Blossoms & Brynhildr
by Rapis-Razuri
Summary: Drabbles for LeoSaku Week 2016. [Birthright/Revelation, AU]
1. White in the Dark

**Title** : White in the Dark  
 **Prompt** : Distance  
 **Word Count** : 978  
 **Notes** : Revelation route.

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Leo was neither oblivious nor stupid. He saw how sometimes Sakura would gaze out the windows and lose herself to her surroundings. It didn't happen often, but often enough that he would notice. She would always smile and say "nothing" when he asked, but Leo doubted that it really was _nothing_.

 _Probably because she doesn't want to look like she's complaining…_

She was in one of those moods again when he entered their solar. A book lay open on her lap, her elbow on the window ledge, her chin propped up against her curled fist. _Eastward_. She was always staring eastward.

Sakura missed Hoshido. It was so obvious to him, but he wasn't sure how to address a problem she didn't want to trouble him with. It wasn't as though she would never see Hoshido again, as she had told him when he first asked her to marry him, but it didn't make the months in between easier.

"Hey," he said softly, encircling her in his arms from behind. She was sitting, so he had to lean down a little to kiss the side her her head. That spark briefly reappeared in her eyes when she turned around to kiss him, but it wasn't enough. There was many things Leo prided himself on, one of which was being able to solve any problem, but he was honestly at a loss with this one. He promised to protect that heart of her's when he confessed his feelings for her didn't he? And right now she was clearly hurting right in front of him and he had no idea what could make it right.

Not that it stopped him from trying.

The idea he had was a bit of a stretch, and he wasn't entirely sure if it would even work, but it was about time he did something about it.

"Hey," she repeated, closing her book. A brief glance at the cover told him it was a novel he had read before that wasn't to his tastes, but thought might be to her's - not that it served as an effective distraction from her homesickness, it seemed. "How was your day?"

"Not bad," he replied, "But that's not important. I have a present for you."

She quirked a delicate brow. "A present?" she echoed, confused, "For what occasion?"

"There is no occasion. Can't I give my wife a present for no reason other than I love her?"

Sakura blushed and giggled a little behind her hand. "Well, okay then." She peered around, "Where is it?"

 _I'm glad you asked_. Leo covered her eyes with his hands and raised his voice to give Hana leave to enter. The samurai looked about as giddy as he was feeling. The bundle of fur in her arms whined, the sound making Sakura gasp. Leo gave the retainer a nod and she deposited the creature onto her mistress's lap.

" _Oh…_ " Even before Leo removed his hands, the puppy had began to push her nose into Sakura's palm, licking it and familiarizing herself with her scent. Book tumbling to the ground, Sakura moved to hold the pup more security as she propped herself onto her hind legs, resting her paws onto the princess's chest. "She's an… she's an…"

"An ainu-ken," Leo confirmed though he looked to Hana for reassurance he didn't bungle the pronunciation. The samurai smirked. Not a very helpful response, but Leo wasn't going to push it in front of Sakura. "She would still have to be trained, of course. Our kennel masters can help with that, but we - that is your brother, your retainers and myself - were hoping she could be a comfort when you find yourself yearning for Hoshido."

"I…" Sakura cuddled the puppy to her chest. She was crying now. Leo and Hana exchanged a panicked look. "Oh, thank you... Leo, Hana. _Thank you_."

"So… I assume you're happy with her then, Sakura?"

"Of course!" Sakura sniffed, fingering the red silk ribbon wrapped around the puppy's neck. "Does she have a name yet?"

"If she did it would kind of defeat the purpose of giving her to you wouldn't it?"

"I-I guess so." The puppy barked and wagged her tail, eyes large and imploring. Sakura scratched her behind one pointed ear and asked, "What should I call you?"

"Whatever you want," Leo said, pleased to see that his idea seemed to work after all. Even if he had the sinking suspicion that he would have to compete with the thing for her affections in the days to come. "She's your's now, after all."

Seeing Sakura smile like that made everything worth it. "She's white," Sakura said out loud as she thought. _Hoshido's color_ , something everyone involved seemed to agree on unanimously. "White… white…"

"Plenty of white flowers for you to choose from," Hana suggested, only half-joking.

She laughed softly at that, but said to her friend, "Actually… I was thinking of snow. It was snowing on the day you were born weren't you, Hana?"

"It was."

"It was snowing when I got to meet Corrin for the first time too." This, she said to Leo. "If he never came back, I wouldn't have been able to meet you."

He _tried_ to smirk at that, but Dusk Dragon, he couldn't. She was right after all. Had Corrin not been kidnapped by Kaze and Rinkah when he did, Leo never would have had the chance to meet Sakura off the battlefield. "Something tells me you have a name in mind."

"I do…" Sakura turned back to the puppy on her lap. She barked again and started panting, tongue sticking out of her mouth, sounding as excited to hear her new name as Leo and Hana were. "I do… Isn't that right, my little Snowbell?"

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 **AN** : Japanese snowbell ( _Styrax japonicus_ ) is a tree that produces a fragrant flowers when it blooms in May-June. _Styrax_ in general have been used to make medicine and perfumes/incense in antiquity.


	2. My Veins Know Winter

**Title** : My Veins Know Winter (But Refuse to Numb)  
 **Prompt** : Winter  
 **Word Count** : 1388  
 **Notes** : Birthright route. Title comes from Robbie Blair's "Deliver"

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Snow still fell from the sky, light as a feather, but the cold sharper than a sword. The spires, the bridges, everything was covered in a soft layer of white, making everything seem just a little bit brighter despite the overcast sky.

Despite that and the warmth provided to her by her white furs, Sakura couldn't help but shiver. When she tilted her head back, the snowflakes landed on her face, brushing against her cheek like a lover's kiss, delicate and brief. She always had a fondness for snow. She and Hana used make paper snowflakes to decorate their rooms with, she and Takumi would build igloos to hide in while everyone around them threw snowballs to and fro, and there was always something gratifying about finding the first shoots of spring in the frozen mud and melting ice as the days grew warmer.

None of that was happening here, however. Hana was still asleep in her room and Takumi was back home in Hoshido. Other than her, the only other person in the courtyard at this hour was the man kneeling in the snow before her.

He looked up only long enough to acknowledge her when she approached. Unlike her, he didn't seem bothered by the cold at all, despite the melting snowflakes in his hair. She knelt down on the ground a few feet away and he didn't send her away. _That's good_ , she thought as she watched his hands work magic of a different sort.

The miniature castle before him was built of sticks and snow: white turrets, towers, and a walled courtyard. A forest of twigs bounded both sides of a pebble-lined road leading to the front gates. Beside it, there was a second smaller building - a soldier's barracks, perhaps? Or a stable?

"It's beautiful," Sakura couldn't help but say.

"Thank you." His bangs were damp, sticking to his forehead. Leo was using the sharp fingertip of his gauntlets to embellish the towers now, adding windows and archways and eyes fixated on his task as though he intended to trace out every brick. He must have been out here for a while now and she couldn't stop herself from worrying for his health.

"I-it doesn't look like K-Krakenberg…"

"That's because it isn't."

"Is it…" _Deep breath_. "I-is it the Northern Fortress?"

This does make him pause. "I see you've been talking to Corrin." There's no anger in his voice, just a statement of fact.

She has, so she nodded. Corrin always spoke so fondly of the castle where he grew up. According to him it was lonely sometimes, and mostly isolated in a way that makes it feel like it was a world of its own. _A prison_ , he had said wistfully with only the smallest trace of regret, _but a simple and happy place where my biggest worry was when I will be able to see my brothers and sisters again_.

"In the snow would be the only time Xander played with Elise and Corrin," Leo replied absently. "The first time you see them, you'd think that he was taking a child's game too seriously because he'd look stern even then, but after watching for a while, you'd realize he's very… gentle about it. He never aimed for the face and his snowballs were never tightly packed so he wouldn't hurt somebody by accident."

He stood and moved to work on a different part of the fortress, his side turned to her.

"Then he would retire and Camilla would come out to build snowmen with them. Elise and Corrin would roll the biggest piles of snow they could and Camilla stacked them up while they went and gathered sticks and rocks for eyes and arms. Sometimes, they built one for each of us." He chuckled wistfully, "I remember how the one of Xander would always have the angriest expression…"

Sakura felt her heart lurch, for him and for his family. She certainly knew what Prince Xander looked like when he was angry, but it was not the expression she remembered most clearly.

"And during all that I would be inside with a book. Elise used to call me _grumpy pants_ because I never joined them outside. Playing in the snow… I'd scoff, but I would always be next to a window where I could watch."

His back was arched for more reasons than his sculpture, the melting flakes in his hair made his crown seem more perilously rested on his head than usual. It made her want to reach out and brush the snow off his shoulders and ease some of his burdens, but she's not sure how such a thing would be received.

"I-it all sounds so wonderful," Sakura whispered. He sounded to vulnerable talking about his deceased siblings and reminiscing of happier times, she wasn't really sure how to comfort him. "I can't imagine w-what it was like t-to lose th-them." She could, a little. Corrin. For a time, Ryoma. _Azura_. but… "Y-you must miss them terribly..."

At once his jaw tightened and his hand stilled. Without warning he pulled his hand away – before knocking down a tower of his replica Northern Fortress.

Alarmed, Sakura scrambled back. "I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered as a second tower went down. _Why did I have to go and say that?_ "I shouldn't have said anything..."

Leo had already risen to his feet, kicking at the ruins, determined to erase all signs of its existence. "You are to not speak of this to anyone, understand?"

She wouldn't have anyway, but something about the way she'd given him her word seemed to struck him. He whirled around, a black king surrounded by white.

"Sakura…" He sounded genuinely pained. "I… I didn't mean to scare you. It's… not you, I promise." She could hear the snow crunched beneath his feet as he knelt by her side and offered her a hand, palm up.

Sakura took his hand and he helped her to a stand on her numb legs. "Y-you didn't scare me," she said, looking towards the ruined castle. "I-I was surprised is all."

"I didn't want anyone else to find it," Leo explained, though his gaze regretful as he followed her's. "You saw what I was doing... the King of Nohr, feeling _sentimental_ and... and _playing_ by himself in the snow. What a disgrace…"

"I-I don't think so." She untangled one hand from his and brushed the snow off his shoulder. "I-I think it's… human." She close enough that she could see little drops of ice on his lashes. He has such long lashes... "I-if you need to hide it b-because of y-your image, I won't tell you th-that you shouldn't. I just... I just don't want you to feel like it's a disgrace to... miss people."

"You always seem to know the right words to say…" He took her hand and kissed her gloved palm, ignoring the snow caked into the cloth. " _This_ is why being with you makes me feel at peace, Sakura. I'm not the king Xander would have been. He was raised and groomed for this role, I can't possibly be what he should have been, but you... you make me feel like I don't have to be."

 _He shouldn't have to feel this way_ , Sakura thought fiercely. Even from the beginning, Leo and Xander were two different people, two different princes that would have been two different kings even if both of them had been, in Leo's own words, raised and groomed for the role.

It's not fair for Leo to compare them like this, but she wondered if she would think the same of herself if she was in his situation. "Leo… I think you should go back," she said at last, "Y-you can't afford to get sick and someone might have noticed your absence by now."

He fixated her with a stare through half-lidded eyes. "So someone might have," he agreed, "And if not, duty calls nonetheless, but..." Leo smiled down at her as he reached up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "May I trouble my future queen for a kiss before I return?"

 _It's no trouble at all_. If anyone asked, Sakura could always say she was simply blushing from the cold.


	3. Heal the Body, Heal the Heart

**Title** : Heal the Body, (But You Can't) Heal the Heart  
 **Prompt** : Magic  
 **Word Count** : 1167  
 **Notes** : Birthright route.

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He made his first kill at eleven. A thief without a name and a man whose face he can't even remember. What he _did_ remember was his father watching him with hard eyes, how his magic tutor had fidgeted nervously, the rush of his magic, and a scream. Father patted his head and praised him for a job well done. His heart had swelled in pride, but then he looked back, just long enough to look back to see the body, covered in burns, twitch for the last time.

That anonymous thief had been the first of many. He continued as his father commanded, looked each man or woman in the eyes, saw their regrets or their defiance, heard their last words and then he ends them with a spell.

It got easier, but at the same time it didn't. For every life he attempted to save behind his father's back, he was forced to take another. Maybe it's only for his own benefit, because he knew that if he ever lost his conscience and became his father's sycophant, he would be no better than the likes of Iago. He took no pleasure in it, but he has reason - to punish, to conquer, to protect his family and future and so he doesn't falter.

But now, against his traitorous brother, he does. Corrin, his Nohrian armor replaced with the white and gold of Hoshido and a matching cape - the cape angered Leo most. Was Corrin so spoiled and ignorant that he never once stopped to think about the time and love Camilla put into sewing the blue one for him?! - reached him first, that golden sword in hand.

Leo raised his. A mass of purple light was pulled from his tome, words are exchanged (" _Did you really mean what you said earlier? Have you...have you really always hated me? Because...I've always loved you."_ ) and he told himself what comes out of that _traitor's_ mouth didn't matter ( _"There's no point in answering that. It's all over now."_ ) because he was going to stop Corrin and these Hoshidans right here or they will only be able to proceed to the capital _over his dead body_ -

For once, his plans fail both ways. Neither happens. Perhaps Brynhildr could sense the doubt he harbored deep within his heart, because when he gets a perfect chance to finish Corrin once and for all… he doesn't.

When his horse rears, when he lands painfully on his side, when he feels the pain of broken bones, Leo found himself thinking of the last piece of advice his tutor had to give him.

 _Not hate, my prince, but love._

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Prince Leo of Nohr didn't seem nearly as scary lying before her as she held her rod over him in one hand, healing the (thankfully non-fatal) injuries he had gained during his duel with Corrin. The rest of the family and everyone else were taking care of the rest of the Faceless while their defeated puppet master was left in her care.

The graveyard had been creepy enough - Sakura had been holding onto Takumi the entire time and still didn't feel all that better - but then _he_ appeared, reminding her of a spirit of death, dressed in black armor and his command over an army of the dead, an impression that solidified more as he made a promise to take her brother's life as payment for his sins.

But still… she heard him quite clearly, didn't she? (" _Xander always lavished you with praise while ignoring my accomplishments... Camilla was the same. She...she always loved you more than me! You were Xander's perfect little toy soldier and Camilla's dress-up doll! I've always resented you for that, Brother. I've been keeping all this in for so long, but it doesn't matter anymore.")_

None of that sounded like anything a grim reaper would say. She never resented Corrin. How could she when Mother and Ryoma and Hinoka were so overjoyed to have him back? When she was so happy to finally meet him? But hearing those words come out of his mouth, even if they were a curse to Corrin…

They reminded her of the times when she thought Ryoma and Hinoka loved their absent brother more than they loved her.

"Y-you…" The Nohrian prince was awake now. Even unarmed and vulnerable like this, there was an intensity in his eyes that made her shiver.

"Y-you shouldn't try to move j-just yet," Sakura advised, despite her tightening grip on the Silence rod on the ground beside her. ("I don't care _what_ Corrin says about him," Takumi had ranted as he unceremoniously dropped the unconscious mage at her feet, "If he does _anything_ remotely suspicious, you muzzle him, got it?"). "Y-you t-took a b-bad fall and um, y-your injuries a-are still healing..."

Naturally, he didn't listen to her, but with the way he winced and hissed in pain, he ended up being forced to lie down again. "My tome," he rasped, "Brynhildr. Where is it?"

Sakura grabbed the book Corrin had handed to her ("It's important to him. Make sure you keep it safe, okay?") and held it so he could see. "R-right here," she said, "B-but I-I c-can't let you h-have it back y-yet. I-I'm sorry…"

He didn't look too happy at her for laying hands on his weapon. For a moment, Sakura thought he was going to try to force her to give it back, but instead he merely grunted, "And what of my retainers?"

"I-I don't know," she set Brynhildr onto her lap, holding tightly onto its spine. She could feel it's power pulsing through her dress, but it didn't hurt her for keeping it from its master. "Th-they were both defeated, b-but they managed to escape. I-I don't know i-if anyone was sent after t-them, I'm afraid…"

"I see..." he sighed - out of relief? - and turned away from her. He had nothing else to say to her, but she didn't mind. His words from before the battle still rang in her memories, as did his dazed, disbelieving mutterings (" _No...I can't fall like this... Not until I prove myself…_ ") as she tended to him.

Everything he said… they made her think of Kaze falling into the ravine, his guilt over Corrin's kidnapping making him feel like it was what he deserved; of Flora of the Ice Tribe setting herself ablaze, unable to live with the fact that she knelt to the man who killed her father because she was afraid to die; of Corrin wondering what had happened to his little brother back in Izumo…

Prince Leo of Nohr was a stranger to her, an enemy commander that just tried to kill them and one of King Garon's children at that. She had no business feeling sympathy for him, but soft as she was, she did so anyway.

(And she wondered, not for the first time, what would happen to Nohr after King Garon was gone.)

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 **AN** : The title and the last line in Leo's section are the slightly modified descriptions of the White Mage Lore and the Black Mage Lore items from _Dissidia Final Fantasy_.


	4. Link Our Worlds, Yours and Mine

**Title** : Link Our Worlds, Yours and Mine  
 **Prompt** : Tranquility/Anxiety  
 **Word Count** : 1223  
 **Notes** : Revelation route. Title comes from AmaLee's cover of "Dearly Beloved."

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At five days old, Forrest was _tiny_. Tiny and fragile with plump cheeks and a soft, oddly shaped head too big for his body fitted snugly in a knitted cap Aunt Camilla made for him, he drooled as he watched his father right back, his gray eyes filled with curiosity.

 _He knows me_ , Leo thought, his heart swelling in a way he never thought was possible. Even as Forrest closed his eyes and opened his mouth, the beginnings of another cry - he had a strong set of lungs, the midwife had claimed was a good sign - the uncharacteristically adoring smile didn't leave the Dark Knight's face as he gently picked the babe up the way Cassita showed him and said to his wife, "I think he's hungry."

Sakura put down her needlework and came to take Forrest from him. "I think he is too," she said, bringing their son to her breast. She had been sitting on a pile of cushions as she worked her sewing, but she moved to the chair across from her husband's to nurse their son.

The documents Xander had sent him just shy of being forgotten, Leo found himself unable to pull himself away from the sight. It still felt a little unreal at times. He's _married_. To an amazing woman who he genuinely loves and who loves him back, no less - Not that their marriage hadn't been without controversy, but that was a minor thing as far as he was concerned - and they have a _child_ together. A little boy they were responsible for raising, someone Leo could pass his learnings to, someone who can inherit Brynhildr when he was gone.

Forrest was done feeding and he makes a little gurgling sound. Sakura giggled and snuggled him close, but made no movement to put him back into his cradle. She looked so radiant and happy, it's hard to believe that a week ago, she had been fretting over everything and was _so nervous_.

Not that Leo blamed her. _He_ had been fretting and nervous during the period leading up to Forrest's expected birth date. The actual birth hadn't been much better. After a particularly bad contraction, Sakura had insisted that he leave, not wanting him to watch and Leo has never felt so _useless_ and not to mention, completely and utterly out of his element.

He still kind of is, actually. He didn't doubt that Sakura would make a wonderful parent, only himself. No one wrote _books_ on how to be a father and the only real example he had was what he could remember of his father. Garon certainly had been an affectionate and doting father, but Leo was hesitant about using him as his _sole_ reference for raising his son - especially since he knew what his father had become.

And besides… there was that _other_ factor Leo has been thinking over for a while. He had been hesitant about breaching the topic during the late stages of Sakura's pregnancy, but he couldn't put it off any longer. Better they address this now than come into conflict about it later. "Sakura?"

She raised her head. "What is it?"

He drummed his fingers on the side of the bassinet before speaking, wanting to make sure he was using the right words. "I've been thinking about how Forrest is the first Nohrian royal to be born to a Hoshidan mother."

For a time, he and his siblings had believed Corrin held that dubious honor - allegedly one of the reasons why Father claimed Corrin's isolated upbringing was for his own safety - but now that it was proven false, Leo couldn't help but worry for his son's future.

The expression on Sakura's face told him that she had been thinking of the same thing herself. She hadn't been welcomed in Nohr at first even when she was simply a diplomat for her country. As a princess of Hoshido, she had to work twice as hard to earn half the respect. Learning to speak and contribute in council sessions she was invited to attend was the start, but she fared best in working with his sisters to establish clinics and orphanages for their people, heading the negotiations to encourage healers from Izumo to move to Nohr and persuading her family to lower the taxes of importing of herbs and medicine from Hoshido.

So when their engagement had been announced, she had won enough favor in Nohr that no one spoke up against it. However, this tentative approval didn't meant that _Forrest_ would be wholly accepted for his blood.

Sakura adjusted Forrest's blankets before replying. "I have made my peace with the idea that Forrest will grow up entirely Nohrian," she admitted, "I was – _am_ sad that I won't be able to share my homeland's culture and history with him, but better that than our son not fitting in. I experienced that with the other shrine maidens I trained with… I don't want him to go through that."

Leo knew his wife experienced bouts of homesickness at times, even if she never liked to say so, even to him. "You are his _mother_ ," he insisted, "I don't want Forrest to grow up feeling ashamed of his mixed blood, especially not when the woman he gets it from is one of the bravest people I know."

Sakura flushed at this. Leo was fairly certain that she could find the miracle cure to every illness and disease known to humankind and still be reduced to a blushing and stuttering mess at the the smallest praise. He found her genuine humility endearing as much as it was admirable, but he really wished she would give herself more credit at times.

Taking a deep breath, he continued more quietly, "There's no reason why Forrest shouldn't be proud to be _your_ son as well as mine, Sakura." He walked over to them, kneeling so he could see them both. He remembered being dragged away from outside the birthing room by Xander, the giddy maid that came to inform him that it was over, and Sakura, exhausted and crying, but deliriously happy because the worst was over and their baby was here and he was healthy and strong.

"Leo…" Sakura's fingers found themselves combing through his hair. "It… it won't be easy."

"I know."

"Y-you really wouldn't mind if Forrest grew up knowing my culture as well?"

"I would like nothing better."

"E-even if other people give you both a hard time for it?"

"They're going to give us a hard time for something or another anyway," he titled his head up. Sakura's hand stilled. "At least if Forrest knows there's no shame in being half-Hoshidan, it can't be used as a weapon against him."

"T-true…" She still sounded unsure, "I-I will trust your judgement on that, Leo… You grew up here, you would know better than I would."

Yes, he did grow up here didn't he? Topographically, so would his son, but not in the same Castle Krakenburg he did. Forrest was lucky in ways Leo never was, but he'll face challenges Leo never would. "Sakura," he reached up and laced his fingers through her's, "Forrest will be fine. He is our son and he will have us to help him. _Both_ of us."

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 **AN** : Okay. So. To those following my entries on _only_ Fanfiction dot Net, I'm going to be bumping up the rating of _Blossoms & Brynhildr_ with tomorrow's entry. My last two fics for the week both contain a bit of sexual content, but nothing explicit. If that bothers you, I want to make sure you're warned beforehand.


	5. Feathers on Snow

**Title** : Feathers on Snow  
 **Prompt** : Writer's Choice  
 **Word Count** : 1831  
 **Notes** : Fairytale AU. Based off the Japanese folktale _Tsuru no Ongaeshi_ , though I borrowed a few details from the Vocaloid song "Seasonal Feathers" (which is based off the same story).

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Her hands are weak, brittle and frail. Every shaky touch of coin sends a jolt of pain from her fingertips to her spine. She bites her lip to hold back her tears, determined to not let how much she is hurting show as she counts.

The cloth merchant smiles patiently, his eyes sympathetic. She has come to love him and his wife for being her best customers. They could have taken advantage of her desperation, given her far less than what her feathers and blood was worth, but they were _fair_ and she loves them for it.

She places the last coin on the pile. It takes a while for her count to sink in and when it does, she lets go of the breath she has been holding. _I did it_ , she thinks. "I-I… I _did_ it," she says. Her throat tightens. The tears that she couldn't keep back were not out of pain or grief, but out of sheer, unadulterated relief. She made it in time after all.

The merchant's wife reaches forward and gently strokes her back. It reminds her of her days as a hatchling, when her mother's wingbeats were a promise of food and her body to keep her warm. The older woman places a package in her lap. _Food_. It smells delicious. "A little something my daughter and I wanted to do for you," she explains. "You look like you haven't eaten properly in _months_ , dear."

She swallows down the truth, but accepts the woman's offering with a smile. She dries her tears on her sleeve and bows low to the couple when she leaves their shop.

She feels light. Not light enough to fly, but she might as well be.

* * *

" _Whoa! Easy there… Easy there… I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm not going to hurt you… You're not going to get out of this mess by trashing about you know?"_

* * *

The medicine does wonders for him. He is still too weak to go far from his bed, but his health improves every day. Too soon for him to leave their home, he manages a few hours a day in the sun and she leaves her loom to spend those hours with him.

"I missed holding you like this…" he says. She giggles and cuddles closer to him in response and rests her head against his collar. He shifts slightly and uses his other hand to cradle her smaller one. She lifts her head up and sees his brow furrowed in worry as he examines her hand. "Sakura..."

"What is it, Leo?"

He kisses her still bandaged hand, acknowledging the sacrifice she made for him, though to what degree he has no idea. "You're still at it aren't you?" he asks softly, "Even in my fever, I could hear you working endlessly on that loom."

Sakura lowers her eyes. "You were going to die," she whispered, "There was no other way to get you the medicine you needed."

Leo grunts. "And you got it. Why are you still weaving like you haven't?"

She bites her lip. "What if you get sick again?"

"I won't." He sounds so _sure_. Sakura doesn't believe it will _never_ happen again, but she agrees to stop.

"But only for a while," she adds, smiling. "I want to help." _I should let my feathers grow back, but I don't want to be a burden_. "E-everyone says the silk I weave is beautiful. They like it."

"Of course they do." He runs his fingers through her hair. It's soothing, she thinks, and it reminds her of how he had once so gently handled her when she got caught in a hunter's trap. "You could make your own living with your weaving, travel to other places, and yet you still stay here with me…"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asks. Cranes mated for life, why not humans too? "I love you."

He stares at her in wonder - and chuckles. "Gods… What did I ever do to deserve you?" His hand falls to hold her jaw and he tilts her face up. Sakura laughs softly and welcomes his kiss with an eager smile.

 _All you did was take pity on a fallen crane and helped it out of the goodness of your heart_.

* * *

" _I-I'm s-sorry, but… I-I got lost a-and I… w-well I..."_

" _...Need a place to stay?"_

" _Y-yes… J-just until the s-snow stops falling..."_

" _There's no one else who lives here… I don't see why not."_

* * *

They couple once after his full recovery. Their garments are discarded one after another. He nips playfully at her neck and then his mouth trails kisses over her flesh. She feels exposed without her plumage, even more so without the clothes she wears as a substitute, but he is just as uncovered and she feels safe with him.

His touch makes her sing, a cry meant for no one except for him to hear. He tells her she has a sweet voice and gods, how he loves it when she says his name. Sometimes his still ink-stained hands leave little black streaks on her pale skin. He apologizes for that, but she tells him she doesn't mind.

Kissing her tenderly on the lips, he joins them together. There is nothing between them, just skin against skin. She wraps her arms around his neck, resting her head against his. His breath against the back of her neck, panting with every thrust of her hips. It is not the dance of wings in the snow, not the dance she used to watch her brothers and sisters perform with their mates, but it is _their_ dance and she loves everything about it.

After it is done, Sakura snuggles close to him, their legs in a tangle as she rests her ear against his chest. She could feel his heart and its rhythm, getting stronger every day, is her favorite thing to hear.

"I love you," Leo whispers as she falls asleep, "Stay with me forever..."

* * *

" _I don't particularly care for heights."_

" _Y-you don't?_

" _No. I had a rather nasty fall back when I was a kid."_

" _That must have been terrible…"_

" _It was, but it was a long time ago. I can still climb a tree if I have to, but I rather keep both my feet on the ground. But to be honest… I've always wondered what it was like to fly."_

* * *

She looks at herself in the candlelight. Snow-white and black, a red patch on her head, is what she is truly. Her wings spread and she sees the missing feathers. What began with her weaving the down she lost when she shook herself or preened lead to her plucking her feathers out when it proved it isn't enough.

Leo despised the loom his mother left behind when she abandoned him, but Sakura loved it immediately. She started with only thread, but the silly idea to weave her feathers through the threads is what became his lifeline and what she was known for. Now that Leo was healthy again, she receives requests for her silk and some even asks - or begs - her to take them as an apprentice.

Even if she wanted to, she could not agree. She weaves a little of herself into every length of cloth she makes. That is not something she could simply teach.

But to refuse the commissions, she has less cause. She _wants_ to stop, but then she would think about Leo suddenly coughing up blood as he copied the manuscripts by candlelight, the days she spent watching him grow weaker as she cursed herself to _work faster_ and she would be back before her loom, shaking and pulling out her feathers one by one.

And then... there is also the child to consider.

* * *

" _P-promise me you will never watch me weave."_

" _That… is a strange thing to ask of me."_

" _I-I'm sorry, b-but you must…"_

" _If it means so much to you… Very well. I promise that I will never watch you weave."_

* * *

He breaks that promise.

Man and crane, shock and betrayal. They stare at each other, the realization that nothing will ever be the same reflected in each other's eyes.

Sakura moves first. She snaps her beak shut. The threads and plume coming loose and fluttering down in silence.

Leo speaks first. "I saw blood on the silk," he explains, shame and resignation are the scales of his voice. "You were getting weaker. There was blood on the loom and on the floor of this room too. I didn't want to stop you, but if you were hurting yourself somehow…"

His reasonings shouldn't matter. His _excuses_ shouldn't matter. _You promised me, Leo,_ she wants to scream or cry, she doesn't know. Why betray her out of concern? She should have cleaned the blood when she was done, but she has always been _too tired_. Why not look because he tasted wealth and wanted more? She trusted him that he wouldn't look. _You_ promised _me_.

She watches him looking at her wings, seeing the missing feathers on her wings and patches of skin on her body. Unable to bare the dawning horror in his eyes when he sees the extent of her pitiful state, she shifts back into a woman. Her legs are unsteady, making her sway as she takes a step forward, towards and away from him. "I-I'm s-sorry," she whispers, blinking back tears, "I-I w-wanted to be with you forever, but now that you know… I can't stay."

He doesn't try to stop her. She's grateful, because this departure doesn't need to be more difficult than it already is, but somewhere, secretly, she wishes that he does.

* * *

Years pass. Autumn ends, inviting winter forth and with winter, heavy snowfall and memories of a lost maiden seeking shelter from the cold.

A feather is all he has left of her. Leo still hears the whisperings of the wife so talented at her art and so devoted to her husband that she wove herself to death for him. He lets them believe what they want, better that than admit that he drove her away in his arrogance. Thinking that he knew better, that he could break a promise he made to his beloved wife when it suited him without consequence…

Transcript and quill all but forgotten long before he hears a knock on his door. _An unexpected visitor at night. Right after the winter's first snow_. Leo rises from his desk, eager _._

 _Too eager_ , he tells himself. _Don't get your hopes up. She's not coming back_.

He opens the door. No, she is never coming back, but there is a boy standing shivering before him. The boy lowers his cowl, his smile so familiar that his next words are more of a confirmation than a surprise.

"Hello Father… It's nice to meet you at last."

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 **AN** : And that concludes my submissions for LeoSaku Week 2016.

Thank you for reading everyone and Happy Holidays!


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